The Tale of Emiya Shirou
by Vladimir-spider
Summary: Born long before the Age of Gods, Uzumaki Naruto lived to his fullest, accomplished his dreams and died with a smile on his face. But his tale is not yet over, or is it?
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own either of the series. If I wanted to own either of the series I'd rather own Fate: too troublesome to own Naruto as it's not finished yet.**

What is afterlife? Everyone speculates about that at least once in their life, but sadly you don't get to find out until you are, well... dead. No going around that, eventually everyone die. Some of us lead ordinary lives, some have a sort of great goal to reach and some are just living for the sake of living. All people live differently, even if with very small differences. But no matter what kind of life a person lived the end is still the same for everyone. In a sense.

Uzumaki Naruto was not ordinary enough to _just_ live. His dream was a grand one and, frankly, nobody believed in him but himself. At first at least. But then again, who expected someone as dumb as him to accomplish the things he did? A mountain sized demon in front of him? He buttheaded it. An asshole ruling a country while the real ruler runs away from her duties? He kicks both of their asses, killing the former in the process and becoming a national hero afterwards. A villain planning to rule the world using the power of some giant alien stone? Let's blow this stone into nothingness after blowing the guy in question away, shall we? Save a country from the Gorgon-wannabe and his minions? Naruto is the man for the job. Destroy a millennia-old demon and save a beautiful priestess in the process? Hell yeah, count him in. Fight off a flying castle? Blow it up already! Some sort of sick scientist seeking Sharingan? Hmmm, didn't I already hear of something like that? Getting sent across time and space, including alternate dimensions, seems to be in his job description, too. And fighting godlike beings. Yeah, that one especially.

So, Uzumaki Naruto, despite all the pain he had endured, had an amazing life. Even he would admit that. He reached his dream and went even further than that. He started out as outcast and ended up... as The Great Emperor who united the world and brought peace to his people, however temporary. In the end he didn't wish he could have done more, because he knew that he did everything he ever wanted. Eventually his name was forgotten and the world got divided once again, but he still won his battle of a lifetime. He deserved his rest.

His soul rested for a long long time. Thousands of years passed, but his soul was still resting in the nothingness of afterlife. There probably is something out there that no one can see, but that's a moot point.

Now though, now was the time. Uzumaki Naruto was reborn. Deep inside his soul the memories of his previous life, he was now born as a simple red-haired kid. He lived a simple happy life with his parents. Which was already a contradiction. Uzumaki Naruto cannot live an ordinary life. And so it was brought to an end when he was just seven years old. Ordinary life, that is.

In the Great Fire of Fuyuki city not many survived. Survivors were counted in mere tens, and he was one of them.

He was saved. Yet the person who saved him looked as if he was saved instead. So he couldn't find it in himself to decline the offer of adoption when the man so happily gave it to him.

Uzumaki Naruto was dead, there was no doubt about it. Yet the fire that took his parents lives and his memories was so strong that it burned his very soul, damaging the outer shell of it so much that it made his new soul incomplete. So the old sealed soul merged with the new one, filling in the blanks. Memories were still far out of the reach, and Uzumaki Naruto was still dead.

Yet, Emiya Shirou was most definitely alive.


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own either of the series. Too lazy to fight for copyright…**

Let's start then…

_**The Tale of Emiya Shirou**_

"_Hello. You are Shirou-kun, aren't you? Well, I'll cut to the chase and ask: being sent to an orphanage or being adopted by a man you've just met – which would you like more?" – asked the man standing beside my bed. He had eyes of a broken man. It looked like he would die if I refused. So, after thinking about it for a few seconds I made my decision and pointed at him. His expression turned the same as that time when he saved me: it looked like he was saved – not I. And the more I thought about the more assured of it I was._

"_Alright, then let's get you changed right away. We should get you acclimated to your new home as soon as possible, shouldn't we?" – the man told me. He then looked like he remembered something and said: "Oh, wait, I forgot to tell you something important. I'll tell you something you shouldn't ever mention to anyone, okay?"_

_The only thing I could do at this point was nod and listen to him. And then he continued._

"_Then… Let's start with this… You see, I am a magic-user…"_

…_Yeah, that's not confusing at all._

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><p>Living with Kiritsugu was… new. Even if I had no memories, I still had an inkling, a vague picture of how I used to live. Maybe it was like a muscle memory: you can't help but start doing things you are used to doing. Yet I had to discard that vague lifestyle as Kiritsugu must be pretty different from my previous parents.<p>

Firstly, even though he claims that he used to live on his own, I doubt it. While he certainly can take care of himself, he can't cook for the life of him. When I called him out on it, he confessed that he used to live with Natalia… then with Maya… then Irisviel. The last one must have been his wife as the tone he used to say this name was a lot happier… and sadder at the same time. Given that she wasn't with him, I asked if he lost her in the fire like I lost my parents. He merely confirmed it, and we never touched that subject again.

Secondly, even though he again claims that he has a lot of experience taking care of children, I doubted him once again. When I asked him just what kind of duties did his wife delegate to him in taking care of their child, he thought about it for a minute and started listing various things. Afterwards I came to a conclusion that while my father knew a lot about entertaining children, he wasn't really good in taking care of them.

Thirdly, he was a bit of an ass when it came to magic. Or magecraft, as he corrected me all the time. You just don't go and tell a child that you can use magic, but then refuse to teach him. That's like offering a candy to a kid and eating it yourself at the last moment! Oh well, I decided to drop it for the time being so that I could get to know my father better. I didn't choose to be adopted because he was some kind of mage after all.

I didn't really have any issues with calling him 'father' or 'dad', as I had no memories of my parents. Honestly I blame the fire. Yet even as I feel that I lost a lot of myself at that time it also felt like I obtained something… or better yet found something that I've lost a long time ago but now had it back. It was difficult to describe.

While he wasn't really an ideal father, Kiritsugu was definitely trying to be as good a father as possible. And that's all I needed to accept him as a parent. Also, it looks like he had enough money to afford not working, so I spent a lot of time with him. We played games together, went to many interesting places, regularly went shopping, visited festival and did some other things. He even introduced to some of his friends, namely old man Raiga and his granddaughter Taiga. Taiga was a bit too eccentric if you ask me. I also started school this year. All those things weren't anything exceptional but they were fun, and that was a good thing in my book.

A year has passed since my adoption. I've been waiting for the right time, and now it has come.

Time to start bugging my father about magical training.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own either of the series. I really don't, please don't think that I'm Masashi Kishimoto in disguise. You're free to think that I am Kinoko Nasu, though. Because while I like Naruto there has been too much bullshit in it lately. Probably the only things I liked about Naruto in the last years were Naruto's new Bijuu Mode and Six Paths Sage Mode (they look awesome and supposedly give awesome boosts to stats and abilities, but somehow many other characters match those abilities) and Madara. All other things, characters and events though…**

**Sasuke is especially disappointing, I thought he was going to do something unexpected and interesting for once, like becoming Hokage and then conquering the world or something. Instead he goes all Schneizel on us and decides that he is going to become the symbol of hatred for the world. **

**This series gets a lot of fanatics, no? Art-fanatics, money-fanatic, god-fanatics, fate-fanatic, experiment-fanatics, eternal-illusion-fanatics, peace-fanatics, one hashirama-fanatic, a revenge-fanatic that evolved into hatred-fanatic…**

**...Sorry about the rant, guys.**

Let's start then…

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><p><em><strong>The Tale of Emiya Shirou<strong>_

With or without the knowledge of the existence of magic, I know there are some supernatural things existing out there. I certainly have some clues.

First clue: the mark on my right palm. It was a hollow circle, and at first I thought that it was just a someone's prank, but after finding out that it couldn't be washed away by pretty much anything I could come up with, I started thinking and unconsciously started concentrating on it. Imagine my surprise when it started glowing. It wasn't a hollow circle anymore, no, it now shined with a brilliant light that didn't blind me. It looked like a small sun. I couldn't bring myself to look away. The moment I looked away it disappeared to my disappointment. I tried to reproduce it, and it worked to my surprise.

The second clue, though… is a bit vague, I suppose. Whenever I meditate, I feel like there is some kind of energy flowing through my body. When I closed my eyes and tried to 'feel' it, I saw it as a flow of blue energy with specks of gold in it. Strange, it is. Investigate, I shall. And again speaking of meditation, it brought me to my third clue.

Fully stopping to move during my meditation brought some interesting results. Something was telling me that doing it would help me immensely, so I tried. And then I felt it. What was it that I felt? Nature? City? The whole world? Anyway, it felt like I was reaching out to something truly massive and beyond my current comprehension, so I stopped. It wasn't scary or anything. I just… felt like it was too early for something as big as that. I didn't know what it was, how to truly reach out to it, but I knew that I could do it at any time. I didn't know if it would help me or kill me though.

The last clue is easy, yet hard to find. It happened the first time when I was cooking dinner. I was a novice, and still am, so I accidently cut my finger. It wasn't anything serious, but normally it promised to hurt for several days until it healed. Well, it certainly did hurt until it finished healing. Which took about five seconds.

"Shirou. I am going to ask directly: how did you do it?" – Dad asked me. He looked a bit freaked out, but otherwise normal. I guess it had to do with the fact that he was a mage, or magus as he called himself.

"I don't really know, I felt like some of my inner power rushed towards the wound and… started healing it?" – I totally wasn't helping myself there, was I? Dad just sighed and decided to continue.

"How did you even learn to access your magical energy without any guidance is beyond me, but it looks like I have no choice but to start teaching you how to control it..."

"Then you will finally…?!"

"Yes, I believe it is time for to start your training in magecraft, Shirou. But remember that you shouldn't use magecraft for yourself, but to help others."

"…Does that mean that I cannot protect myself with it should I be in danger?" – I couldn't help but ask. Dad probably didn't mean it like that but the wording certainly could imply that.

"Ah, no. Of course you can. But if you are trying to protect yourself or someone from a non-magi, then you should be careful not to expose magic to anyone."

"Really? Why?"

"Because magic is a finite source, Shirou. Imagine magic as a single…hmmm… pie. Yes, pie. Every single person that knows about magic gets a small piece, so naturally, whenever someone gains knowledge of the existence of magic everyone who already knows about it loses a bit of it. Of course, if one more person gained such knowledge, then probably no one in the world would feel it. There are a lot of magi in the world after all. But if a whole town's worth of people gained the knowledge, then the effects would be far more pronounced. With me so far, Shirou?"

"Yes, but… Does that mean that one gets all his magic at birth and can't really get more?" – I asked Dad. If it was true, then…

"That's correct, Shirou. No matter how much one trains his own magic, he cannot increase his magic reserves past a certain limit. Inside a person's soul there is a certain number of 'magic circuits' that create magical energy, also known as 'od'. It is combined with the magical energy in the air, also known as 'mana', to create 'prana', the energy we mostly use for spells. While there are ways to increase the amount of mana you can use, the amount of 'od' depends on the number and quality of 'magic curciuts' that a person possesses. The number of usable 'magic circuits' can be artificially increased by using 'magical crests', but those exist only in old families of magi."

"'Magical crests'? What are those?"

"Magical marks containing the collected knowledge of previous generations of a particular family of magi. It is usually passed down from the head of the family to its heir."

"Is that mark on my palm a 'magical crest'?" – I asked showing dad the hollow circle on my hand.

"Hmm? Isn't that just a tattoo or a scar?" – he asked with wonder as he looked over my hand. His tone sounded a bit teasing, like 'Do you expect every unremovable mark to be a magical crest?'.

"Oh yeah? Then what do you say to this, dad?" – I told him and concentrated. The circle on my palm started glowing, resembling a sun. – "How about now?"

"That is…" – dad answered. He looked really confused by this turn of events. – "Actually, I have no idea what this is, because I just scanned it and it definitely isn't a crest."

"A mystery then? Great. So, how many magic circuits do I have?" – I asked hopefully.

"Let's see…" – he said as he put his hand over my heart. After a minute he answered. – "It's a bit shocking, but I think I saw something like that before."

"What, what, what have you seen before?"

"You don't have any magic circuits, Shirou."

Huh? I don't have any? Wait…

"Hey, wait, I can certainly feel some kind of energy inside me. So what do you mean I don't have any?" – I asked impatiently.

"You don't have the numerous magic circuits, but instead you have a single magic core. In other words, you have one very strong circuit instead of many weak ones. And if it's anything like the one I saw before, then you probably won't ever have to worry about having insufficient reserves of magical energy."

Phew. So I could use magic. That was a relief.

"So Shirou, any more questions? If not, then go to sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

"Yeah, I think I still have one. You told me that it's impossible to raise one's magic reserves, right? But I've been able to feel my magic for about six months now and I can say that I have at least twice as much power as I had back then."

"Hmmm… Maybe it's because of the magical core… I'll look into this, but don't expect too much, son. I'm not really strong in magic theory." – he said as he started walking to his bedroom.

"Still, thanks Dad. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Shirou," – he answered and disappeared behind the door. It was time to sleep, so I decided to follow his example. After drinking tea. This conversation really tired me out.

"Magic, huh?"

Tomorrow I will start learning my first spell. Probably. I want it to be something awesome, but it's most likely going to be something boring. No use complaining though. I'm going to be learning magic, and that's like every kid's dream. Then…

_Let's make this dream a reality, shall we?_

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><p><strong>This chapter was a bit longer, but not much. But I haven't written anything for quite a while so please bear with me.<strong>


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